MOSCOW — Russian troops have regained control of a centuries-old monastery in the last Ukrainian-held village in the Kursk region, marking a significant territorial development in the months-long counteroffensive, according to Russian state media reports on Tuesday.
The St. Nicholas Belogorsky Monastery, located on the outskirts of the village of Gornal, was recaptured after more than a week of fighting, an anonymous Russian security source told the state-run TASS news agency. The 17th-century religious site, situated less than 30 kilometers (18.5 miles) from the Ukrainian border city of Sumy, had reportedly been fortified and used as a strategic position by Ukrainian forces.
“Our soldiers liberated the St. Nicholas Belogorsky Monastery in Gornal during fighting,” the source told TASS, claiming that Ukrainian troops had converted the site into a military outpost. “The resistance of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has been broken.”
While the report remains unverified by independent sources, the alleged retaking of the monastery signals a potential end to Ukrainian presence in the southwestern Kursk region, which lies adjacent to the active northeastern front line in Ukraine’s Sumy and Kharkiv regions. Russia’s Defense Ministry had not officially commented on the operation as of Tuesday morning.
Saturday marked another key milestone when Russia’s Defense Ministry announced the recapture of Oleshnya, the second-to-last village in the Kursk region that remained under Ukrainian control. The two villages—Oleshnya and Gornal—had been under Ukrainian occupation since Kyiv launched a surprise incursion across the Russian border several months ago, in what became the largest ground offensive on Russian soil since the Second World War.
Over the past few weeks, Russian forces have methodically reclaimed swaths of territory once held by Ukrainian units, which penetrated deep into Russian territory last year during a sudden and audacious offensive. According to battlefield monitoring platform DeepState, Ukrainian troops still hold approximately 31 square kilometers (20 square miles) of territory inside the Kursk region, down from a peak of over 1,376 square kilometers (531 square miles) seized in the initial incursion.
Russia’s Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov briefed President Vladimir Putin on Saturday, stating that 99.5% of the Kursk region had been “liberated,” and that operations to fully expel Ukrainian forces from the area were ongoing. Gerasimov’s update signals the Kremlin’s desire to solidify battlefield gains before engaging in potential ceasefire negotiations.
Political analyst and Nezavisimaya Gazeta editor Konstantin Remchukov, writing in a Sunday editorial, said Putin appears determined to reclaim every inch of Russian territory in the Kursk region before considering a U.S.-mediated truce.
“President Putin is obviously seeking the full liberation of the Kursk region before entering any negotiations,” Remchukov wrote, citing unnamed government sources. “As soon as the last 0.5% is liberated, then the troops can stop where this news finds them.”
His remarks echo growing speculation that Russia is positioning itself militarily to avoid being forced into territorial concessions under any peace deal, particularly one brokered by the United States and its allies.
